Remedies for Chiron is a collection of memories hidden in the crevices of intentional prose, carrying its reader through the alchemical narrative of a Black, queer, disabled poet.

Chiron is one of the centaurs (a race of creatures that are part horse, part man) in Greek mythology who was known for his wisdom, medicine and as a tutor to many Greek heroes.

Chiron was initially considered an asteroid when it was first discovered in 1977. It is now known as a minor planet and classified as a “centaur” object, a class of celestial bodies orbiting between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt.

In astrological traditions, Chiron’s placement in one’s birth chart represents a core wound that may take a lifetime to heal. Chiron can be interpreted by three archetypes: the Wounded Healer, Shaman and Alchemist which are all forms of symbolism capturing the holistic healing that occurs when we integrate our wounds and heal them.

Inspired by this title, m. patchwork monoceros’s collection of poetry spills raw emotions on each page, inviting its readers to go inward to meditate on visceral imagery of grief and pain enveloped in the hope of healing intergenerational trauma. The author’s engaging prose focuses on the physical experiences of chronic pain and trauma stored in the body, invoking a psychosomatic response that moves the reader out of the thinking mind and into the feeling body, reminding me of the Latin root word ‘viscera’ for visceral– meaning “inner parts of the body” or “affecting inward feelings.”

Remedies for Chiron is severed into five sections of storytelling, each offering a remedy. The first of which is “Injury. Illness. Impact.” which is remedied with “3-5 drops of silence broken into truth / Take as needed.” Upon the initial perusing of these section titles, the reader may notice an interesting narrative evolution that mirrors the process of healing. The later sections are titled “Scab. Pick. Scab.” with remedial instructions to “gather seeds of promise / chew one for each broken vow / water to germinate” and “Scar. Heal. Grow.” “untether soul strings / stretch fingers, toes, mouth, eyes / scream and breathe, repeat.”

Sharp stabs of pain and pangs of grief are ever-present throughout this collection, as it navigates complicated familial relationships, medical gaslighting, the shame of living with chronic illness in a capitalistic society and the physical manifestations of trauma stored in the body. Reading the poem “untitled fascia” feels like dipping a toe in the pool of living with chronic pain: “thick paint layers of anguish accumulate / upon themselves in the fibres of my fascia / all of my parts attached to nerves have / bowed to their demise from distress.”

Using a painfully truthful voice, monoceros conjures powerful images by weaving together wounds and, much like harmonized music played on instruments, it is hard to ignore the unrelenting beat of grief on loop in the background. “Mad Black” sings like a song of solidarity for marginalized folks living with mental illness. The speaker revels in the freeing acceptance of themself, “Call me Mad. / Call me Black. / I do.” No pretentious jargon here, just a Black agender qrip poet committed to writing in truth no matter how tormenting the agony of their lived experiences may be.

To journey through this collection is to confront and deeply feel the brutal realities of marginalized lived experiences. The writings of a somatic expressionist such as m. patchwork monoceros demands collective qrip (queer+crip) consciousness be considered, inspiring not only the truth in one’s pain but also the possibility of healing together.